
Received 15.08.2022. Revised 17.10.2022. Accepted 20.10.2022.
Abstract. In 2021, the European Union presented unilaterally and without agreement with international community partners a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). It includes a system own monitoring and control of production processes in third country companies in relation to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The article attempts to analyze CBAM as a new, emerging phenomenon of global governance, and offer recommendations for improvement its concept. It is shown that CBAM is a global in its scope, but its legitimacy is in serious doubt. The EU has no legitimate grounds for making requirements for environmental cleanliness and carbon footprint of goods produced abroad. The right to make such demands is not enshrined in fundamental international environmental documents such as the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement. EU importers do not have any information about the volumes of greenhouse gas emissions embodied in imported products. Only foreign manufacturers have such data. The European Union control for foreign manufacturers proposed in CBAM undermines the exclusive right of a third-country governments to control and regulate national enterprises including greenhouse gas emissions. The EU does not have a mandate established by both international community and external to the Union countries to monitor and control the “carbon footprint” in companies of foreign jurisdiction. It is concluded that CBAM has all the signs of discrimination, protectionism, restrictions on competition in the environmental and industrial sphere in relation to exporters from third countries. It is necessary to work out a better proposal and make political and diplomatic efforts to avoid CBAM creating unnecessary conflicts with other countries. Any new rules of global climate policy and regulation should be formulated only under the auspices of the UN.
Keywords: Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, global governance, greenhouse gas emissions, European Union, international law, sovereignty, UN, WTO
REFERENCES
1. Popova I.M. Systematization and classification of the European Union’s policy instruments for the implementation of the Green Deal. International Organizations Research Journal, 2021, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 30-56. (In Russ.) DOI: 10.17323/1996-7845-2021-04-02
2. Larionova M.V. The EUs policies for the Green Deal internationalization. International Organisations Research Journal, 2021, vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 124-160. (In Russ.) DOI: 10.17323/1996-7845-2021-03-06
3. Gaida I., Dobroslavskii N., Lyashik Yu., Daneeva Yu., Melnikov Yu. The European Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism – key issues and impact on Russia. Moscow, Energy Center of the Moscow School of Management Skolkovo, 2021. 50 ð. (In Russ.) Available at: https://energy.skolkovo.ru/downloads/documents/SEneC/SKOLKOVO_EneC_RU_CBAM.pdf (accessed 11.10.2022).
4. Cosbey A., Droege S., Fischer C., Munnings C. Developing Guidance for Implementing Border Carbon Adjustments: Lessons, Cautions, and Research Needs from the Literature. Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, 2019, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 3-22. DOI: 10.1093/reep/rey020
5. Zhong J., Pei J. Border Carbon Adjustment: A Systematic Literature Review of Latest Developments. SSRN, 2022. 23 p. DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.4128234
6. Garicano L. A Proposal for the Design of an European Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (“CBAM”). Bruegel, 2021. 22 ð. Available at: https://www.bruegel.org/sites/default/files/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Presentation-by-Luis-Garicano.pdf (accessed 11.10.2022).
7. Mathieu C. The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism: A Piece in the Industry Decarbonization Puzzle. French Institute for International Relations, 2022. 11 ð. Available at: https://www.ifri.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/mathieu_eu_carbon_border_adjustment_mechanism_2022.pdf (accessed 11.10.2022).
8. Aylor B., Gilbert M., Lang N., McAdoo M., Oberg J., Pieper C., Sudmeijer B., Voigt N. How an EU Carbon Border Tax Could Jolt World Trade. Boston Consulting Group, 2020. 12 ð. Available at: https://web-assets.bcg.com/img-src/BCG-How-an-EU-Carbon-Border-Tax-Could-Jolt-World-Trade-Jun-2020_tcm9-252002.pdf (accessed 11.10.2022).
9. Khomutov I.A., Kvon K.R., Kukuruz G.G. EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism how to turn it in favor of Russia? Moscow, IG “Petromarket”, 2021. 55 p. (In Russ.) Available at: http://www.petromarket.ru/upload/iblock/306/CBAM_Petromarket_08_2021.pdf (accessed 11.10.2022).
10. Saakyan Yu.Z., Rudakov E.N., Vasen’kina E.Yu., Grigor’ev A.V., Fadeev A.N. Risk assessment for the Russian economy from the introduction of carbon border adjustment mechanism in the European Union: analytical report. (In Russ.) Moscow, IPEM, 2020. 10 p. Available at: http://ipem.ru/upload/iblock/10b/4a5un7bfyxp5qbl8hseazssv0c8wto28.pdf (accessed 11.10.2022).
11. Golyashev A., Kurdin A., Kolomiets A., Scriabina V., Fedorenko D. Carbon border adjustment mechanism: challenges and opportunities. Energy bulletin, 2021, iss. 98. 22 p. (In Russ.) Available at: https://ac.gov.ru/uploads/2-Publications/energo/2021/áþëëåòåíü_¹_98.pdf (accessed 11.10.2022).
12. Baranovsky V.G., Ivanova N.I., eds. Global governance: opportunities and risks. Moscow, IMEMO, 2015. 315 ð. (In Russ.) Available at: https://www.imemo.ru/files/File/ru/publ/2015/2015_009.pdf (accessed 11.10.2022).
13. Aleshin A.A., Baronina Yu.A., Borisova A.R., et al., eds. Global governance: crisis or transformation? Global Development, iss. 22. Moscow, IMEMO, 2021. 225 p. (In Russ.) Available at: https://www.imemo.ru/files/File/ru/publ/2021/2021-001.pdf (accessed 11.10.2022).
14. Lebedeva M.M., Harkevich M.V., Kasatkin P.I. Global governance. Moscow, MGIMO-University, 2013. 220 p. (In Russ.)
15. Voronkov L.S. International intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations in the system of international relations. Moscow, MGIMO-University, 2018. 354 p. (In Russ.)
16. Kuteynikov A.E. International intergovernmental organizations: theoretical and sociological analysis. St. Petersburg, Publishing House of St. Petersburg University, 2012. 256 p. (In Russ.)
17. Barnett M.N., Pevehouse J.C.W., Raustiala K., eds. Global Governance in a World of Change. Cambridge University Press, 2021. 381 ð. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108915199
18. Zurn M. A Theory of Global Governance: Authority, Legitimacy, and Contestation. Oxford University Press, 2018. 336 p. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0892679419000078
19. Zhang T. Climate Change – Our Most Global Challenge. IMF, 2021. Available at: https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2021/06/02/sp060221-dmd-zhang-green-swan-conference?cid=em-COM-123-43175 (accessed 11.10.2022).
SOURCES
1. Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. The European Green Deal. Brussels, 11.12.2019. COM(2019) 640 final. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/default/files/european-green-deal-communication_en.pdf (accessed 11.10.2022).
2. Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a carbon border adjustment mechanism. European Commission. Brussels, 14.07.2021, COM(2021) 564 final, 2021/0214 (COD). Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/default/files/carbon_border_adjustment_mechanism_0.pdf (accessed 11.10.2022).
3. A European Union Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism: Implications for developing countries. UNCTAD, 2021. 30 ð. Available at: https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/osginf2021d2_en.pdf (accessed 11.10.2022).
4. IAEA. List of Member States. Available at: https://www.iaea.org/about/governance/list-of-member-states (accessed 11.10.2022).
5. Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 2003 establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Community and amending Council Directive 96/61/EC. Official Journal of the European Union, 25.10.2003. Available at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32003L0087&from=EN (accessed 11.10.2022).
6. Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions “Fit for 55”: delivering the EU’s 2030 Climate Target on the way to climate neutrality. Brussels, 14.07.2021. COM(2021) 550 final. Available at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52021DC0550 (accessed 11.10.2022).
7. Trade Statistics for International Business Development. Available at: https://www.trademap.org/Index.aspx (accessed 11.10.2022).
8. The Paris Agreement. United Nations, 2015. Available at: https://unfccc.int/files/essential_background/convention/application/pdf/english_paris_agreement.pdf (accessed 11.10.2022).
9. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Adopted on May 9, 1992. (In Russ.) Available at: https://www.un.org/ru/documents/decl_conv/conventions/climate_framework_conv.shtml (accessed 11.10.2022).
Registered in System SCIENCE INDEX
No comments